- Date
- April 2, 2001, 18:49 local (Apr 3, 2001, 01:49 UTC)
- Place
- Long Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N669SPCessna 172S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 3, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
- FAA report
- 20010402014479A
- Case key
- 52020
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's inadequate compensation for the exisiting crosswind and his improper landing flare that resulted in a hard landing, and loss of directional control during the landing roll.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot landed hard, veered to the right of the runway, and stuck a taxiway sign with the lower portion of the left wing strut. The pilot, on his fifth solo flight, had been approved by his flight instructor to practice landing-pattern work. Winds at the time of the accident were from 160 degrees at 9 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 2, 2001, at 1849 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172S, N669SP, made a hard landing on runway 25L at the Long Beach/Daugherty Field Airport, Long Beach, California. The airplane sustained substantial damage after it veered off the right side of the runway and struck a taxiway sign with the lower portion of the left wing strut. The airplane was operated by Surface to Air as an instructional flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local landing pattern-work flight. No flight plan had been filed.
The Long Beach/Daugherty Field (LGB) aviation routine weather report (METAR) issued at 1856 reported: visibility 10 miles with few clouds at 4,000 msl; wind from 160 degrees at 9 knots; temperature 57 degrees Fahrenheit; dew point 48 degrees Fahrenheit; and altimeter 29.85 inHg.
A Safety Board investigator interviewed the operator of the airplane. He stated that this was the student pilot's fifth solo. The pilot had been approved to practice landing pattern work. On the first landing the student landed the airplane hard. The airplane ballooned and veered to the right off the runway, where it struck a taxiway sign.
Repeated unsuccessful attempts were made to obtain airplane and pilot information from both the airplane owner and the student pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N669SP
- Reported as
- Cessna 172S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S8622
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Surface to Air
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- LGB · Long Beach, CA
- Destination
- LGB · Long Beach, CA
- Airport
- LGB · Long Beach, runway 25L, 5,420 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- LGB
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N669SP · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.